51,000 New Mobile Malware Threats Uncovered in First Half of 2013

According to NQ Mobile's 2013 Midyear Mobile Security Report, more than 51,000 new mobile malware threats were identified in the first half of 2013, infecting approximately 21 million mobile devices.

The top five most infected markets in 2013 were China, with 31.71 percent of the world's mobile infected devices, Russia with 17.15 percent, India with 10.38 percent, the U.S. with 6.53 percent, and Thailand with 6.04 percent.

Ukraine saw the most dramatic increase in infections, up 485 percent from Q1 to Q2 2013, while mobile infections in Saudi Arabia grew 28.46 percent from Q1 to Q2 2013.

Conversely, India saw the most dramatic decrease in infections, down 88 percent from Q1 to Q2 2013, followed by the United States with the drop of 63 percent.

"Our midyear report shows that although we discovered 51,000 new mobile malware threats, infection rates continue be very unpredictable and highly localized," NQ Mobile co-CEO Omar Khan said in a statement. "And as evidenced by the Bill Shocker malware we discovered in January which infected over 600,000 mobile devices, it takes just one successful piece of malware to create a local malware epidemic."

"Our best advice to consumers around the world continues: download apps only from trusted app marketplaces, be careful when responding to or clicking links in SMS messages, [and] install a trusted mobile security solution on your mobile device," Khan added.